After nine years of planning, the inaugural Palm Springs International Animation Festival has gone from its founder’s backyard to the big screen.

Brian Neil Hoff’s idea took root in his own backyard. In 2008, the Palm Springs resident held the first Backyard Film Festival behind his house complete with pop-up screen and projector. “When I launched [the Backyard Film Festival] in November 2008, I initially received 10 submissions, most of which were from animation directors I had kept in contact with over